Of the four teams in the Northeast Regional, Notre Dame traveled the farthest to get to Manchester, NH this weekend. Unlike the other three teams, they’re the only one that’ll be making another trip after this one.
After dispatching Merrimack in overtime on Saturday night, the Fighting Irish jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and held on, beating nearly-homestanding UNH 2-1 to secure a berth in the Frozen Four in two weeks in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“It’s more fun when there’s a great atmosphere - we’ve played well on the road all year, but we didn’t want to think too far ahead,” said sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson - who stopped 37 of 38 UNH attempts - “we just wanted to worry about the process and not worry about anything that we couldn’t control.”
After the Wildcats jumped on Notre Dame early, outshooting the visitors ten to two, Stephen Johns blasted a shot from the point, which made its way through a cluttered UNH defense that wound up screening UNH goaltender Matt Di Girolamo just 7:26 into the first period.
It looked like nobody would score again, but after a UNH chance by John Henrion was denied, Billy Maday got a pass on his backhand and beat Di Girolamo high on the blocker side from about five feet out with only five seconds remaining in the second period.
Di Girolamo, who was run over by Ben Ryan just seconds into the second frame, was very slow to get to his feet, but skated off the pain. The sophomore from Ambler, PA recovered to have one of his better games of the year, stopping 36 shots to keep UNH in it. Di Girolamo - who started every game of the season and postseason in net for the Wildcats, finished the season with the most saves in the nation.
“He’s proven all year from day one, people asked when we got to the tourney if he could handle the pressure in the playoffs, he was terrific again tonight.” said UNH coach Dick Umile.
Ryan was whistled for charging the goalie, but UNH’s power play wasn’t able to convert, going 0-for-3 on the night and finishing the season on an 0-for-19 slump.
The Wildcats started the third period sluggish, but finally generated some opportunities towards the middle of the period, and captain Mike Sislo finally found the back of the net at the 13:37 mark to give the UNH hope, but they weren’t able to convert when David Gerths went for hooking at 15:57 and a Mike Beck tripping penalty at 18:16 sealed their fate as they weren’t able to get the puck out of the zone to get a chance with the clock winding down.
Johnson - who controlled nearly every UNH shot he faced - credited the team in front of him for the backcheck, keeping the defense on the blue line and allowing him to see every puck. “They got sticks in passing lanes, deflected pucks and blocked them as well. All the credit goes to them; we couldn’t have won without them.”
Notre Dame will face the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which upset number-one seed Yale in the East regional to earn its berth in the Frozen Four. Michigan and North Dakota - teams which have gone a combined 24-1-1 in their last 26 games - make up the other national semifinal.
After winning the last three national championships, this will be the first year in which Hockey East isn’t represented in the Frozen Four since 2005, when Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College were the national semifinalists.
After dispatching Merrimack in overtime on Saturday night, the Fighting Irish jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and held on, beating nearly-homestanding UNH 2-1 to secure a berth in the Frozen Four in two weeks in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“It’s more fun when there’s a great atmosphere - we’ve played well on the road all year, but we didn’t want to think too far ahead,” said sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson - who stopped 37 of 38 UNH attempts - “we just wanted to worry about the process and not worry about anything that we couldn’t control.”
After the Wildcats jumped on Notre Dame early, outshooting the visitors ten to two, Stephen Johns blasted a shot from the point, which made its way through a cluttered UNH defense that wound up screening UNH goaltender Matt Di Girolamo just 7:26 into the first period.
It looked like nobody would score again, but after a UNH chance by John Henrion was denied, Billy Maday got a pass on his backhand and beat Di Girolamo high on the blocker side from about five feet out with only five seconds remaining in the second period.
Di Girolamo, who was run over by Ben Ryan just seconds into the second frame, was very slow to get to his feet, but skated off the pain. The sophomore from Ambler, PA recovered to have one of his better games of the year, stopping 36 shots to keep UNH in it. Di Girolamo - who started every game of the season and postseason in net for the Wildcats, finished the season with the most saves in the nation.
“He’s proven all year from day one, people asked when we got to the tourney if he could handle the pressure in the playoffs, he was terrific again tonight.” said UNH coach Dick Umile.
Ryan was whistled for charging the goalie, but UNH’s power play wasn’t able to convert, going 0-for-3 on the night and finishing the season on an 0-for-19 slump.
The Wildcats started the third period sluggish, but finally generated some opportunities towards the middle of the period, and captain Mike Sislo finally found the back of the net at the 13:37 mark to give the UNH hope, but they weren’t able to convert when David Gerths went for hooking at 15:57 and a Mike Beck tripping penalty at 18:16 sealed their fate as they weren’t able to get the puck out of the zone to get a chance with the clock winding down.
Johnson - who controlled nearly every UNH shot he faced - credited the team in front of him for the backcheck, keeping the defense on the blue line and allowing him to see every puck. “They got sticks in passing lanes, deflected pucks and blocked them as well. All the credit goes to them; we couldn’t have won without them.”
Notre Dame will face the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which upset number-one seed Yale in the East regional to earn its berth in the Frozen Four. Michigan and North Dakota - teams which have gone a combined 24-1-1 in their last 26 games - make up the other national semifinal.
After winning the last three national championships, this will be the first year in which Hockey East isn’t represented in the Frozen Four since 2005, when Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College were the national semifinalists.
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